His dad is a legendary singer-songwriter. He lost it when he was just 15 and now carries his songs and some unreleased songs around. Here he talks about how he resembles his famous parent. And of a little pest that wrecks his tools
Filippo Graziani tries to keep Ludovico, 14 months old, under control, very wild: «Instead of sleeping, he is trying to “finish” the guitar that he has already broken with his feet». Son of Ivan, the singer-songwriter and guitarist who died in 1997 at only 51 years old and who everyone remembers for songs like Pigro, Man Lisa, Agnese sweet Agnese, Florence (sad song)/Angelina, Lugano goodbyeis on the road with the summer tour Filippo Graziani sings Ivan – For friends Tour, in which he offers his father’s historical and unreleased songs: «We wanted to publish them because they were already at a very advanced stage of production». Vocals and guitar, Filippo, who turned 43 on June 26, is accompanied on stage by his band, made up, among others, of his older brother Tommy on drums. The last date of the tour is in Rimini on August 24th. “The title, For friendscomes from the fact that friendship was very important to him. The same for me. Playing with someone is a bit like fighting when you’re a kid: you open up, you bring out your true colors, you recognize each other».
Will he bring his son with him? “No. He’ll do exactly what I did when Dad was on tour: I was “lent” around to relatives.”
Did Ivan teach her to play? “No. I started when Dad was no longer around. I taught myself, I clung like a leech to the good ones, guys like me or Dad’s ex-friends who were still hanging around the house.”
It’s funny he didn’t try before. «As a kid I did everything Tommy did, who is seven years older than me. He played drums and I started too. Then, during my adolescence, I left music aside a bit. And when she re-entered my life in a powerful way I thought that having two drummers in the family wasn’t a great idea.”
Her father died when she was 15. Do you miss the fact that you didn’t have time to live a relationship as equals, as friends? “Of course. And I think about it even more since I became a father myself.”
In the past he opened some concerts for Renato Zero who was a friend of Ivan. They seem to be two very different people, what did they have in common? “I don’t know exactly. What I remember is that they laughed a lot when they were together.”
Your father participated in the Sanremo Festival twice: the first time in 1985, when you were only 3 years old, and then in 1994. What memories do you have of the second edition? “I watched it on TV with my grandmother. I barely resisted because it was late and I was sleepy. She told me that she had stolen the plaid flannel shirt she was wearing from her mother.”
Seriously? «He didn’t care about aesthetics. Pippo Baudo took a dig at him precisely for the level of elegance he had shown on stage.”
She, on the other hand, participated only once, ten years ago in the New Proposals category, but did not reach the final. «It was a subdued edition, no one made any great exploits. And then I performed at half past midnight. More people saw me the next morning when I went out shopping.”
Can you imagine Ivan being a judge on a talent show? “But please! He didn’t like to go on TV. He liked to compose, record his own albums and play live whenever possible.”
Have you ever wondered if you really wanted the unreleased songs you play on tour to reach the public? «Dad recorded the auditions on cassette: voice and guitar. I have dozens of them and they will remain where they are. The songs on the album Ivan Graziani – For friendsinstead, were practically finished songs that had not found a place in his albums. Maybe because, for example, three ballads in an album are too many».
Is there a song you would love to play together? «The repertoire of the Beatles, the Stones, Crosby, Stills & Nash… The great classics he loved. Among his songs, Mona Lisa».
Why did his father enjoy spreading legends, completely invented details about his life? «It was part of a jovial spirit that he had had since he was a boy. I saw an interview on TV in which he said that a certain song was born during a trip to Ireland. I said to my mother: “But when did he go there?”. And she: “There has never been one in her life”.
Who was his father off stage? “He was a family man. And now that I’m a father, I too can understand him coming home at 4 in the morning to be with us. I make certain English-style escapes, furtively, just to get back in the car… Like Batman talking to Inspector Gordon and after a moment, poof, he disappears.”
Enrica Brocardo
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